Although it opened to little fanfare and with even fewer accommodations, Detroit's Joe Louis Arena became much more than simply "another sports arena" in the Motor City. It became an institution for toughness and grit, providing the perfect backdrop for one of the fiercest rivalries in all of sports: the Red Wings vs the Avalanche.
The Conception
After years of civil unrest and a crumbling auto industry, by the end of the 1970s, the city of Detroit was beginning to crumble and its sports teams were starting to look to the safety of the suburbs. Pontiac had recently opened the massive Silverdome for the Lions and were wooing both the Red Wings and the Pistons with offers of increased revenue in bigger and better arenas. While the Pistons did eventually move to the Silverdome, the Red Wings were very tempted with the offer of a $15 million arena right next to the Silverdome. Weary of the ancient flair of their old arena, Olympia Stadium, the Red Wings longed for modern amenities.
Detroit mayor Coleman Young knew that he had to act fast and began to construct an arena without any tenants right next to the Piston's old home, Cobo Hall, along the Detroit River. the public voiced its displeasure as a new arena that they couldn't afford was being built without any tenants. Once again, the mayor took the bull by the horns and invited Red Wings owner Bruce Norris for coffee. After a long discussion, Norris decided to stay in Detroit and accept the mayor's offer.
A Slow Start
Having broken ground on May 16, 1977, the sparkling new 20,000 seat Joe Louis Arena opened on December 12, 1979. Despite having been put under the architectural mind of SmithGroup JJR which had gained renown for planning the Detroit Opera House and the recently opened Hart Plaza, it was obvious that it had been hastily put together.
There were few restrooms and concessions appeared to be an afterthought, but that was the least glaring of concerns. Its esteemed architects had forgotten to include a press box, forcing construction workers to simply place a long desk along the last row of the arena. There, broadcasters were in constant contact with the audience.
The Red Wings began their stay at Joe Louis Arena by losing to the St. Louis Blues 3-2 two days after Christmas 1979. It was a sign of the times as the Red Wings failed to have a winning record until their tenth year in their new arena. Attendance was always low in those days, but there was a bright spot.
Just two months after it opened, Joe Louis Arena hosted the NHL All-Star Game. It was a historic occasion as it was local legend Gordie Howe's last appearance and Wayne Gretzky's first. While it was a small moment, it was momentous for an arena that was still finding its place in the Motor City. It was a prelude of all the great things that were to come to the place soon to be known as "the Joe".
The Joe
He may have seen him coming, or maybe he didn't. All Kris Draper knows is that one moment he was in front of his bench trying to get control of a loose puck and the next moment Colorado Avalanche's Claude Lemieux is slamming his face against the corner of the board in front of the Red Wings bench. As he lay there, the Red Wings could see their season slipping away and, true to form, the Avalanche beat Detroit for the conference championship and would go on to win the 1996 Stanley Cup.
Needless to say, the Red Wings were running out of answers. Ever since Michael Illitch bought the team in 1982, he and his family had spent so much of their resources upgrading Joe Louis Arena, manning the phones to goad season ticket holders to buy some more, establishing partnerships far beyond Illitch's own Little Caesar's Pizza and building a competitive roster that could vie for championships.
they had reached the mountaintop before, only to lose to the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. While the Joe was building a roar, the team had yet to reward its loyal fans for their years of dedication with a championship. In fact, only Arena Football's Detroit Drive, professional lacrosse's (MILL) Detroit Turbos and the Junior Red Wings of the OHL had won titles in Joe Louis Arena. Even the Pistons had enjoyed success in the venue, having beaten the Celtics twice before losing the third at the Joe in the 1985 playoffs. The Red Wings were loaded with talent, but they also knew that their championship window was closing.
While Detroit lost their first three games to Colorado in 1996-1997, they knew that for one reason or another, Claude Lemieux was absent in each of those. After seeing the damage he had inflicted on Kris Draper, they wanted Lemieux more than ever.
Lemieux finally dressed for a game against the Red Wings on March 26, 1997 at the Joe. Together, the two teams combined for nine future Hall of Famers, each hating the other side with a passion burning within their souls. Picking up on the hoopla, the Detroit News printed a "Wanted" ad featuring Lemieux. the NHL knew that this could be a bloodbath and issued a memo to both teams ordering them to wear their helmets while warming up. Already, the ground was shaking on a night that would finally bring the ROAR to the Joe Louis Arena.
The first two fights between Brent Severyn and Jamie Pushor and Kirk Maltby and Rene Corbet were mere undercards to the main event. Ironically, it was two of the mildest mannered men on the ice, Hall of Famers Peter Forsberg and Igor Larionov, that started the brawl.
While they tussled away from the play, Darren McCarty noticed Claude Lemieux from the back corner of his eye, twirled around and sucker-punched him right in the face. Joe Louis Arena immediately exploded in a boisterous roar that could be felt all over the city. As McCarty pummeled Lemieux, all the Motor City's most hated villain could do was curl up into a ball to defend himself.
Meanwhile, Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy saw the commotion and started clomping over to center ice to meet the Red Wings goalie for a scuffle of their own. In the rules of an all-out donnybrook, those two were meant for each other. However, Red Wings Brendan Shanahan decided to intercept the big man. Carried by the momentum of the moment, the two leaped from their feat and crashed into each other high in the air as the arena exploded ever more. The Joe was never the same.
When it was all said and done, 18 fighting majors were handed out and 148 penalty minutes were served in the bloodbath. And the crowd loved every single second of it. To top it off, the Red Wings won in overtime, 6-5. It's now known as "Fight Night at the Joe".
Buoyed by their triumph, the Red Wings made it all the way back to the conference finals where they finally defeated the Avalanche in six hard fought games. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers at the Joe in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals to claim their first championship since 1955 and would win their second straight Stanley Cup in Washington a year later.
In 2002, coach Scotty Bowman had announced that after 30 years and eight Stanley Cups, he was going to retire. The team fought all year to give him his ninth title and put themselves in a perfect position to do so at the Joe in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Steve Yzerman launched a beauty of a pass for Brendan Shanahan to score the series clincher early in the third period, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 and sending their coach off in style.
The Final Years
By the time the Red Wings lost Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, plans had been in the works for the past decade for a new arena. While the Joe had won the city's heart, it always had glaring flaws that couldn't be ignored in the modern era. Construction for Little Caesars Arena began in 2015 but Michael Illitch never got to see the finished product as he died on February 10, 2017, just seven months before the new arena opened.
The arena's farewell tour evoked so many wonderful memories. The Red Wings won their last game at the Joe on April 9, 2017, beating the New Jersey Devils 4-1. WWE hosted the last event ever held at the Joe Louis Arena in an even appropriately named "The Last Show at the Joe" on July 29, 2017. It evoked memories of so many wrestling matches from the Undertaker's first championship in November 1991 to the dustup between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe as well as the classic between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair (Halloween Havoc '94).
Joe Louis Arena was demolished soon after. Today, the Residences at Water Square, a 25 story luxury apartment complex stands on the Joe's old spot.
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